"I'm tempted to drag you back here."

I grinned and held the towel closer to my chest as I walked out of the bathroom. "So why don't you?"

Nico groaned. He grabbed my pillow from the other side of the bed and shoved his face into it. "You're such a tease."

Laughing, I turned around and headed for the suitcase locked inside the wooden closet—because I was too lazy to unpack—and brought it out. "Never claimed to be anything but, baby."

He didn't answer, and my hand stopped its search for clean clothes as I looked back at him with an arched eyebrow. "What?"

"Nothing," he said, placing his hands behind his head—purposefully flexing his muscles, I was sure, since he was naked except for boxers—and his mouth curled wider into a boyish grin. "Mornings with you are nice."

"Don't propose to me yet, babe. College first."

Nico let out a laugh. "Fuck, I'm so in love with you."

At that moment, it would've been so easy to say the words back to him.

Instead, I bit my tongue, turned around, and took the towel off my body.

Nico's sharp intake of breath made my own smile grow wider, and the rustling of the covers on the bed told me he sat up straighter to enjoy the show. I bent down to step into my shorts and slowly slid them up my legs.

"You're going to make us late," he said, voice a little breathless.

"We don't want to be late," I answered with a mocking gasp as I slipped on my shirt. "We're supposed to go hiking today."

"Tease," Nico muttered again, and before I knew it, a squeal escaped my lips as he picked me up and laid me down on the bed. The mattress creaked with the sudden weight.

"Don't," I warned him with raised finger when he started to crawl over to me on all fours. "Nico, we are going to be late."

He dipped his head and lightly brushed his lips across my jaw. "Don't care."

I found that I didn't, either. I knotted my fingers around the messy strands of his hair as he kissed me slowly, leaving me dizzy and gasping for more. My toes curled when Nico pulled back and kissed down my throat, and my back arched involuntarily. My hands roamed the back of his shoulders and south to his stomach and happy trail while he peppered light kisses across my chest.

"You know you're it for me, right?" he whispered, pulling back. "Thea. Years from now...I'm going to marry you."

"No," I whined, pushing him away to cover my face. "Don't make me cry, my eyes will get all puffy."

Nico leaned forward to gently pry my hands away. "Sometimes, I still worry about this. About us."

I drew my eyebrows together. "What do you mean?"

Nico's eyes softened as he reached out to tuck a strand of hair behind my ear. "I'm terrified that you're going to slip through my fingers one day. I'm terrified of the day I'll screw up, and you're going to walk away and wonder why you ever wasted your time on me."

My heart just broke. I blinked rapidly when I felt tears forming around my eyes. "How can you say that?" I murmured, cradling his face. "That's not—that's never going to happen."

"Surreal," he said, giving me one last kiss. Nico smiled and pulled back. "Ah, I wish I could just stay here forever with you. I'm going to take a shower real quick then we can leave."

"Wait," I said quickly, catching his arm before he could move.

"Yeah?"

The words were at the tip of my tongue.

I didn't know when I'd realized it. Was it last night after the bonfire? Was it back at the beach house? Was it during the bus ride? I didn't know, and it didn't matter.

I fell in love with the way he took care of me, protected me, cherished me, listened to me, and with the fact that I knew he was always going to do so in the future. I fell in love with the way his voice sounded when he wished me goodnight, with the way he hugged me in the mornings, and with the way he was kind and sweet and honest and genuine. I fell in love with his faithfulness, his laugh, and his touches and words and actions. I fell in love with the way he said my name, and his gentleness and strength and the comfort I found in his arms.

I fell in love with the way he loved me.

I stared at Nico and swallowed hard. "I'm sorry I took so long."

Nico looked at me. "What?"

Somehow, the reality of it scared me. Though I didn't understand it, the fear settled down slowly, like vines wrapping themselves around a tree, like alcohol poisoning the bloodstream. It was a little harder to breathe.

"Nothing," I whispered, pulling him closer to me. "Wish I could stay here with you, too."

*

With a dramatic groan, JJ bent over and panted for breath, resting his hands on his knees. His face twisted into a grimace. "We've ben walking for hours."

"It's only been a half hour, you drama queen," Nico said with a roll of his eyes. Then he cleared his throat and awkwardly placed a hand on his friend's shoulder. "But, um. Seriously. Do you need, uh, anything..."

"We're not doing this, Nico."

"Right, okay, you know, Thea's doing so much better than you."

JJ pouted. "It's hot. And I didn't come here to train."

Faust clapped his back. "Come on, buddy. Let's not embarrass the basketball team like this, people are looking."

I snickered and took Nico's hand, dragging him along with me as we climbed up the slippery steps. "Thanks, babe. Really appreciate it."

Nico nodded and squeezed my fingers. "I appreciate your shorts."

I pushed his shoulder with a laugh. "Shut up."

He grinned and shot me a wink.

"And up here," Mr. Finch said through the megaphone, startling everyone standing near him, "is the gulf. This is off-limits to everyone. I repeat, this is off-limits."

One of the seniors raised his hand. "Why is it off-limits, sir?"

"Safety measures," the teacher answered with a tight smile. "When the red flags are up, it usually means the riptides are very intense. Go in the water and you'll drown—and it doesn't matter if you're a swimmer or not. Did everyone understand that?"

The seniors all mumbled an affirmation.

Mr. Finch nodded. "There will be two separate trails from here—the longer and the shorter. Those who want to hike the longer route will stay with me. The rest will follow the student council."

Faust came up behind us and placed a hand on Nico's shoulder. "Let's take the longer route."

Nico's mouth curved to a grin. "Was already planning to."

"Count me out," JJ said with a huff, linking his arm with mine. "I'm going with Thea."

Faust arched an eyebrow. "We weren't even going to ask you."

"Meanie."

Nico squeezed my fingers. "You can come with us if you want."

I shook my head with a smile and released his hand. "I'm actually ready to go back now. JJ and I will be back at the lodge in no time."

Nico kissed my cheek. "See you later, then."

"Bye!" JJ chirped cheerfully, dragging me away. We walked the opposite direction and followed the line of people in front of us as they led us through the trail. "By the way, where's Sutton?"

"She had to prepare for the rest of the activities," I answered with a shrug. "She's back at the lodge."

JJ sighed wistfully. "She's a real heartbreaker, that one. She won't give me the time of the day."

"She's wary of you," I corrected him, chuckling. "You literally own the heartbreaker reputation, JJ. Try harder."

"Help me."

I pretended to think about it. "Yeah, no."

"You owe me," he said, narrowing his gaze. "You thought I was capable of attempted murder."

Eyes wide, I fisted my hand in his shirt and covered his mouth. "Don't be so loud!"

JJ smiled against my palm. "No one's listening, Thea, calm down."

I looked around and saw that he was right. A lot of the other students were chatting amongst themselves as they trekked. Taking my hand away, my eyes wandered to the ground as I cleared my throat. "I'm really sorry about that, JJ. It was a mistake on our part. It was just the contact name and the shirt—"

"Thea," JJ said, laughing as he grabbed my wrist. His eyes were kind when he looked at me. "I was kidding."

"Don't," I replied in a quiet voice, kicking a pebble. "It's not funny. We made you tell us your secret."

JJ slung an arm over my shoulders. "It was only a matter of time, Thea, don't worry. Nico, Faust, Theo and I talked, and we're all good. Stop blaming yourself."

"Say you forgive me and I won't bring it up again."

The blonde jock ruffled my hair. "I forgive you, sweetheart. Let's let it go."

"I'll help you with Sutton," I offered, looking up at him.

"That was a joke, too," he said, grinning. "Please, Thea. I know how to win a girl's heart. Been there, done that."

I pointed a finger at him. "Sutton's not just any other girl, okay? Hurt her and I will personally castrate you."

JJ laughed loudly. "Yeah? I'm scared."

"Nico will help me."

The laughter died on his lips as he cleared his throat. "Yeah, okay, that's not funny. Your boyfriend's actually scary when he wants to be."

My lips lifted to a smile. "I know. But he's very gentle and sweet."

JJ scoffed. "Gentle and sweet to you, sweetheart. He's an asshole to everybody else."

"Hey. He's not an asshole."

"Oops."

"And you love him, anyway."

He rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah."

I pursed my lips. "JJ."

"Yeah?"

"How do you tell someone you're...really in love with them?"

JJ stared at me. "Is this about Nico?"

I sighed. "Who else, idiot?"

JJ reached over to flick my forehead.

"Ow! What was that for?"

"You're the idiot," he said with a glare. "What are you asking me for? I'm pretty sure Nico already knows."

I kicked another pebble and sighed. "He doesn't."

JJ threw an arm around me. "Oh, sweetheart. I don't think you have to do anything. Just the way you are around him...it shows."

"But I'm scared," I admitted.

"Of what?"

I thought about the fear I felt this morning. "Honestly, I don't know."

He paused. Then, quietly, he said, "You took your time falling in love with him, Thea. And you'll fall in love with him again, and again, and again—and if you're not afraid of that, what else is there to fear?"